Berkeley Condensed Matter

[gumpstuck]

So I was scouring the 2009 profile thread hoping to find a trend in the Berkeley admitted applicants so far and I found that almost all applied to HEP. Am I right to say its still early in the game for CMT/CME? Has anyone from these fields heard from them? Have I been left out of the loop?

[zxcv]

Only the first handful of offers have gone out. I don't think they were selected by field.

Everyone who applied to Berkeley is still in the game.

[BigBang]

Only the first handful of offers have gone out. I don't think they were selected by field.

Everyone who applied to Berkeley is still in the game.

Do you know when would the bulk of acceptances go out? Also, does Berkeley send it out in waves?

[WhatCanYouDoFermi?]

Do you know when would the bulk of acceptances go out? Also, does Berkeley send it out in waves?

On last year's profiles there seemed to be two big waves. The first one came at the end of the third week of Feb, just like this year, and the second came about a week later. I'm crossing my fingers for the end of this week

[zxcv]

I don't know when the rest of the acceptances will go out, but we'll start planning for the open house next week (was going to be this week but couldn't be scheduled). I'm on the recruitment committee, so if you have any tips for the open house you should pass them on.

Good luck everyone!

[abeboparebop]

zxcv, do you know anything about whether Berkeley plans to pay for accepted students to fly out for the open house?

Neither Berkeley nor Santa Cruz have been very forthcoming yet in that regard, although I should have more information from both at some point later this week.

[zxcv]

Last year, Berkeley provided up to $300 for travel reimbursement. I would expect a similar amount this year, but do not hold me to that.

P.S. Last year I got my admissions offer on February 29.

[gumpstuck]

thanks for the inside info zxcv, much appreciated in this trying times. now if i get answers by this weekend I can finally get to planning for visiting days.

[surjective]

I also went to the Berkeley open house last year. Yeah, they only pay $300, which might not be enough for your flight. But, if you are, say, coming from the east coast, then just visit more than one school while you are out west (CalTech open house is usually right before Berkeley), and each will pay a fraction for your flight (I think CalTech paid $400 last year). So, the combination of them is more than enough.

There's a fair bit of communication between the schools - they have a good way to work it out so that your full flight gets reimbursed.

[Helio]

I also went to the Berkeley open house last year. Yeah, they only pay $300, which might not be enough for your flight. But, if you are, say, coming from the east coast, then just visit more than one school while you are out west (CalTech open house is usually right before Berkeley), and each will pay a fraction for your flight (I think CalTech paid $400 last year). So, the combination of them is more than enough.

There's a fair bit of communication between the schools - they have a good way to work it out so that your full flight gets reimbursed.

stanford open house is usually right before or after the Berkeley one as well

[abeboparebop]

I also went to the Berkeley open house last year. Yeah, they only pay $300, which might not be enough for your flight. But, if you are, say, coming from the east coast, then just visit more than one school while you are out west (CalTech open house is usually right before Berkeley), and each will pay a fraction for your flight (I think CalTech paid $400 last year). So, the combination of them is more than enough.

There's a fair bit of communication between the schools - they have a good way to work it out so that your full flight gets reimbursed.

But how do you get from Caltech (in your example) to Berkeley? It's a pretty serious drive and I've decided it wouldn't be practical to rent a car (under 25).

[grae313]

I also went to the Berkeley open house last year. Yeah, they only pay $300, which might not be enough for your flight. But, if you are, say, coming from the east coast, then just visit more than one school while you are out west (CalTech open house is usually right before Berkeley), and each will pay a fraction for your flight (I think CalTech paid $400 last year). So, the combination of them is more than enough.

There's a fair bit of communication between the schools - they have a good way to work it out so that your full flight gets reimbursed.

But how do you get from Caltech (in your example) to Berkeley? It's a pretty serious drive and I've decided it wouldn't be practical to rent a car (under 25).

It's like a $60 to $100 flight. If you are visiting multiple schools on the west coast, their visit days are all next to each other. They each put in up to $300 or so, you just contact the schools, cc all the coordinators on the email, and they work it out between themselves to cover all of your transportation costs equally. Taxis, buses, plane tickets, rental cars... just email the departments, bring the receipts, and you're good.

[zxcv]

Final admissions decisions will be out by March 15. Berkeley doesn't have a waitlist.

[valentino]

two more weeks, damn. i'm too excited.

[WhatCanYouDoFermi?]

zxcv or anyone else,
Do you know if Berkeley is still sending out many acceptances? Or have they basically finished for the most part?

[zxcv]

I think most decisions have been made by now. If you haven't heard back yet, call or write Donna Sakima.

[valentino]

ah shet.. probably got rejected then. will call...

[valentino]

called donna. bye berkeley... that's the end of the season. cornell or chicago for HEP theory?

[WhatCanYouDoFermi?]

Damn it!
Called Donna; I "fall into the group in which you have a competitive application, but I'm afraid this year we were worried we might have too many Theory students".
Whatever...
This makes me think that they didn't evaluate us by subfield.